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Neuroergonomic Evaluation, Using Mobile fNIRS and Real-World Cognitive Task, Reveal Differences in Adolescents With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Within an Expected Time Window of Recovery
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Neuroergonomic Evaluation, Using Mobile fNIRS and Real-World Cognitive Task, Reveal Differences in Adolescents With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Within an Expected Time Window of Recovery

Noah Sideman, Amanda Sargent, Christine Hammond, Denah Appelt, Brian Balin, Sarah Levin Allen and Hasan Ayaz
Frontiers in human neuroscience, v 12
2018
url
https://doi.org/10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.227.00105View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open CC BY V4.0

Abstract

OBJECTIVES : Full recovery from mTBI is expected typically 2-4 weeks post injury. Methods used to assess recovery, namely neurocognitive testing and symptom reporting/observation, generally show resolution of cognitive difficulties and symptoms within this time period. These methods to assess recovery, however, can be unreliable and lack sensitivity and generalizability. For adolescents, an age group especially susceptible to mTBI’s, decisions regarding returning to school and athletic activities typically rely on these standard methods. The imprecision of these measures can therefore unnecessarily subject children to further injury and prolonged recovery trajectories. While these methods can help inform some decisions, much of the underlying physiological changes in the brain attributed to concussion cannot be gleaned from these standard practices alone. There are questions as to whether physiological changes in the brain parallel those changes seen with behavioral performance, emotional functioning, and symptom reporting in subjects with and without mTBI. There is also interest in how emotional symptoms, post-concussion symptoms, and other factors further modulate brain activity after mTBI. There is a specific need for neurocognitive tasks and subsequent measurements of brain activity to represent day to day functioning as closely as possible to ensure the validity and predictive value of such measures. The current study aimed to evaluate underlying physiological changes measured by functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a standard neurocognitive task of working memory and a more ecologically valid task assessing academic performance in order to glean a more objective measure of functioning in adolescents with mTBI. Additionally, this study aims to further understand the modulating influence of emotions, symptom severity, days post injury, and other factors in individuals with mTBI.

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